Dr. Lipschultz is Isaacson Professor, UNO Social Media Lab and School of Communication, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Contact him at (402) 554-2600 or @JeremyHL on Twitter.

Saturday

Going mobile in 2011

CNN mobile was live on Dec. 31-Jan.1

This will be the year that ubiquitous mobile media broadly diffuse. The availability of "app phones" and access to live or recorded video pose a serious threat to alternatives, such as broadcast and cable television. As consumer electronics manufacturers have demonstrated, it will not be long before these small images are easily bounced to our nearby large screens. On New Year's Eve, while staying in downtown Chicago, I didn't mind watching CNN coverage from Times Square on my iPhone, but I can also see that larger screens make sense for sports and drama. At the same time, this seems to be the year of the tablet. The success of the iPad produced a sea of competitors, including some with features not yet available from Apple. Watch for the second generation iPad to take center stage. The addition of cameras is expanding devices into the two-way video environment. No wonder the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is planning to find more wireless spectrum by recalling under-used space. We like our media, and we want it with us whenever and wherever there is interest. As a guy who came from the analog age, digital technology is amazing. Now, if content providers will please improve quality, the promises of media may yet be realized.